Forbidden Love
by Tyler the Awesome Guy
Summary: Lincoln meets a new girl, Sam Sharp, and starts to develop a relationship with her. The only problem is she is four years older than him.
1. Chapter 1

**FORBIDDEN LOVE**

Lincoln was making his usual trip to the comic book store that he frequents in the mall after a long day at school. He had made this trip to the store a million times before, but this one particular time would be special. He was nose-deep in another issue of his favourite comic book series Ace Savvy, avidly invested in what his favourite intrepid hero was up to, so much so in fact, that he was not aware of his surroundings. He was walking around the shop with his nose in the comic book, until suddenly...

SMACK!

He rammed into another patron of the shop. This had happened before with various other contestants, but most of them were isolated incidents and then after picking up the stuff that they dropped, they would go on their own way. But this time was a little different. Prior to actually getting a comic to read in the shop, Lincoln had his eye on an older lady, probably around 15 or 16, that day. She had light blonde hair and a blue streak in her hair. She was noticable because most of the people who would frequent this particular shop were a specific clientele. Sure the kids section where Lincoln was had it's fair share of kids, but most of the other people were men and women who... well for lack of a better, left something to be desired, so seeing a radiant beauty like her in the comic made Lincoln drawn to her.

After they hit each other because each one was avidly involved in their comic, Lincoln said, "Oh my Gosh, I am so sorry".

"Oh Gosh," she said, "I did not see where I was going."

Lincoln started to pick up the comic and he happened to notice the particular comic that she was looking at.

"What is it?" she asked the young man.

"You are reading Ace Savvy." Lincoln mentioned.

"Yeah."

"I've never seen someone like you reading this comic before."

"Well, I like it."

"Get out." Lincoln said surprised but excited, "I love Ace Savvy!"

"Really? That's cool."

"This issue is a great one."

"Really? Hmm, I am only on page 14 so please don't spoil it."

"Oh sure. What is your favourite issue?"

"Ooh, I am not sure. I am only up to Wave 3." There were 6 waves of the comic published so far.

"Wave 3 is excellent. You will really like the surprise ending at the end of the issue. It will keep you on pins and needles."

"Oh okay. I will keep that in mind." Lincoln could not help but stare at this girl. Normally, he wasn't into older girls, but there was something about this one that was keeping him under a sort of a trance. He tried to "keep it cool" and not let her in that he liked her, but he had a feeling that she knew from her adorable smile and giggle that she let out.

"I see you in here a lot. You must really like comics," said the girl.

"Yeah. Well, I was drawn into Ace Savvy from a young age. Since then, I have been reading it a lot."

"I like Ace Savvy. It provides an escape from me."

"Yeah, wouldn't you rather be in the teen section?" Lincoln asked, pointing to a section of the store full of teen comics and the typical clientele.

"Nah. Those comics bore me. All boring and lovey-dovey and dull. Blech. I would much rather read this."

"Yeah, same here."

"My name is Sam by the way."

"Uh... I'm Lincoln Loud."

"Loud... hmm... are you related to Luna by any chance?"

"Yeah, she's my sister."

"Get out. I'm good friends with her. We are starting a band together."

"Wow, that's cool. I always thought she should join a band."

"Well, we got to talking and got some of our friends together, and thought it was only natural."

"Makes sense."

"Luna has told me a lot about you, but she did not tell me that you are just cute as a button." Lincoln started to blush, no girl has openly told him how cute he was outside of his family.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I love your hair. It's distinct."

"Most people made fun of my hair."

"Ignore them. What do they know?"

"Yeah good point. I like your hair too."

"Thanks." Lincoln had a bit of a thing for girls with a streak in their hair a separate colour than their natural hair colour.

"Well... I think I better go and pay for this." Lincoln knew that this was his opportunity. He never felt this natural talking to a girl before and he did not want it to end.

"Oh uh... wait... uh, how about I pay for your comic?" he asked.

"Oh it's okay, you don't have to."

"No... I, uh, I insist. A pretty girl like you should not have to pay for comics." Sam then blushed a little bit, but not noticably. She appreciated how much of a gentleman he was being and could not help but to accept his request.

"Well... alright, since you are such a gentleman. But what about your comic?"

"Oh what, this? I already own like four of this issue. I don't mind." Lincoln was lying. He never read that issue before and was intending to use his money to purchase that issue, but something came over him and he felt it necessary to purchase the comic for her.

Sam handed Lincoln the comic and he walked over to the teller and purchased it. Afterwards, he handed her back the comic.

"Aw, thanks a million."

"You're welcome."

"Well... I guess I better get out of here. I got what I came for."

"Oh... uh," Lincoln said as she was making her way to the store exit, "where are you going?"

"Oh just over to the arcade."

"Get out! I was going to the arcade too. Maybe we can go together."

"That would be great."

They exited the comic book shop and started walking towards the arcade which was located on the other side of the mall, more closer to the food court. Along the way, they began to chitchat.

"I didn't know you liked video games," Lincoln began.

"Yeah, well... I find it's a good way to unwind after a long day at school, you know, either that or I just strum on my guitar. Sometimes, I just spend hours experimenting around with music and lyrics, writing songs and just composing."

"Hmm... I was never that good playing musical instruments. I can see why you and Luna get along well."

"Yeah, totally."

"Tell me more about you, please."

"Sure. Well... I have two brothers. Steven and Sly. And I have my Mom and my Dad. They are great. I got my guitar from my Dad in fact. I started to learn to play at church get-togethers and became a natural. Now the two things I love the most is music and Jesus."

"Interesting."

"You ever go to church?"

"I don't think my family ever took us."

"Maybe you could go to our church one day. It's really sweet. My Dad's the Pastor."

"I might take you up on that." It was then that Lincoln noticed the cross around her neck. Something about knowing that she was a good girl kinda made her more appealing.

Lincoln then told her about himself, about life with 10 siblings and what he likes to do.

"Wow... and I thought life was hard with two brothers. I cannot imagine what it would be like if they quintupled."

"Yeah... sometimes I like to pretend that I have a T.V. Show too. You know, just for fun."

"Maybe it'll happen one day." Lincoln didn't usually do things like that. Walking with an older girl he just met to hang out at an arcade, but there was something about her that he could not get out of his head.

After more walking and talking, they finally made it to the arcade. Trying to be a gentleman, Lincoln paid for the tickets between the two of them. Sam was again very grateful for the gesture, even though she was capable of paying herself. Soon, they tried out nearly every machine over the next two hours. The Jurassic Park shooter, the Mario Kart racer, the DDR dancer, all the while having fun and cracking jokes and laughing. For Lincoln at least, the time seem to fly by. He did not remember the last time that he had this much fun with someone else, let alone with another girl. Sure he had fun with other people at arcades like Ronnie Anne or Clyde, and sometimes he would go by himself and have a good time, even on bad days or days where he was going through the motions, but he felt that today was special.

At the end of the two hours, Lincoln and Sam had collected together their remaining tickets and picked out a prize at the concession. They had enough for a stuffed animal that Lincoln gave to Sam. He thought she looked so cute when she was holding the plushie.

"It's so cute," Sam said. "Thanks for getting it for me, Lincoln."

"Yeah, well for someone like you, it's worth it," he replied.

"Wow... I did not realize how hungry I am. Yet I don't really want to spoil my supper."

"Ooh, supper!" Lincoln realized, looking up to a clock in the mall hallway that read 5:00 p.m., "can't be late for fish-fried Friday."

"Thanks again Lincoln for being so sweet to me. I had fun."

"You're welcome. It was my pleasure." Lincoln could not help but stare at Sam. He did not want to stop, but he knew that he did not want to be late for dinner. He was confused. Then Sam started to walk away. She got about a couple of meters and Lincoln started to run after her, saying "Wait!" She stopped and turned her head, then in an unexpected move, Lincoln decided to kiss her. After he finished, Sam shared a look of confusion, which made Lincoln very disconcerned.

"Oh... Oh my Gosh, I am so sorry," Lincoln said very quickly, to the point of almost babbling and stuttering his words, "I did not mean to do that. Something came over me. I normally don't do that. I don't even like kissing, but I just thought that you were very pretty and I wanted to do nice things to you to get me to like me and..." then Sam interrupted him and calmly said, "Shhhh, it's okay, Lincoln. I understand why you did that. To be honest, I kinda got the idea from you being so nice to me."

"I hope you are not mad."

"No. Takes more than that to get me mad. Honestly, kid, I can't really share the same feelings for you," Lincoln started to feel down about what she said, "however, I do like spending time with you. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel a sort of a special connection with you. You remind me so much of... uh... someone I knew. Sometimes in life, you feel special connections with people and I feel that you can be any age to be good friends with people. I see something in you, kid, something I really, really like."

"Gosh, that's... that's sweet of you to say."

"Besides, I can't stay mad at your adorable face." She then proceeded to give Lincoln a noogie, followed up with Lincoln laughing throughout. "I wouldn't mind hanging out some more tomorrow though, how's about Gus' Games and Grub tomorrow?"

"Oh wow. That would be awesome!"

"Here, let me give you my number and I can text you some details." Sam then whipped out her phone and Lincoln did the same and they exchanged phone numbers, "I'll text you after I eat supper. How's about that?"

"Sounds great. I think I'm really gonna like spending time with you."

"Yeah, me too." They then walked their own separate ways, with Lincoln excited to have a new friend and excited to hang out with her the following day.


	2. Chapter 2

Lincoln was walking home after a long, eventful day at the mall. He was trying to pick up the pace a bit for fear of being late and getting reprimanted by his parents or worse, not getting to eat his dinner. He was feeling quite happy that he made a new friend, especially since he finds it somewhat hard to do so. Halfway to his house however, Lincoln received a text message. He thought it was Clyde or something telling him whatever information about whatever part of his day that he felt like sharing his bud, and usually he ignores the text messages in situations such as these because he was trying to get to his house quickly, but this time, Lincoln decided to take some time out to stop and see what the message was.

He went into an alcove nearby a couple of other residential houses and checked his cell phone. It was Sam. Lincoln was a bit confused as to why she would send him a text so early but he decided to read it. It said:

 _"Lincoln, can you do me a favor? Plz tell no one that we met. Personal reasons"_

Lincoln was a bit confused as to why Sam requested him to not tell anyone that they met, but he respected her decision and replied back with an _"OK_ "message. After the text successfully was sent and he got a note that Sam read it, he resumed running back to his place.

It only took 15 minutes to get from the mall to his place. Pretty good, all things considered, especially since Lincoln was trying to get there as quick as he can. He was pooped once he got there and had to catch his breath before entering his house. Lincoln was not really a fan of P.E. or physical exercise in general, so him having to run a great distance kinda took the wind out of him.

After catching his breath, he entered his house and not long after he came in, he heard Lynn Sr., his father, say "Supper's ready", and then he heard the stampede that was his sisters run from their respective rooms down the stairs on to the dining room to get their grub on. After his sisters raced downstairs, he walked in solemnly to the room, his sisters already sitting at the table ready to eat. He took his seat which was beside Lynn Jr. and Lisa.

"Hope you're all ready for Fish-Fried Friday," his Dad said, showing off his recent prepared delicacy, comprised mostly of fish-related meals. It did not take very long for the girls' to grab their respective portions of the supper, every one in the family engaged in their usual dinner discussions, which began with Lori.

"So I was talking with Boo-Boo Bear today and I had to tell him about what Whitney did. It was literally just so embarrassing..." the eldest sister started as other sisters discussed their various topics.

"I had fun at field hockey. I totally scored 6 goals in the first game and 7 in the second game. Kinda a slow day for me," said Lynn Jr., the sporty sister who was sitting beside Lincoln.

"I tried out some whoopie-cushion related humour on Benny today," began Luan, the aspiring comedienne of the family, "needless to say it was quite a gas. Haha, get it?"

Lincoln decided to try and keep silent and eat his food but halfway through eating his food, his parents asked him about his day.

"Lincoln", Rita, his Mom said, "you've been awfully quiet since you got home. Tell us about your day"

"Uh, my day?" Lincoln asked in a somewhat scared fashion. "Uh... my day, yeah." Lincoln played with his food a little bit and then thought of a good response, "Oh you know, it was just average. I went to school and then went to the comic book store and the arcade. Clyde was on vacation so I had to go by myself"

"And that was it?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"Uh yep." Lincoln did not like lying, especially in front of his family. He just knew that he would be caught if he lied too much so he tried to keep it silent.

"Did you buy anything?" Rita then asked.

"Uh... what do you mean?"

"Well you went out with twenty dollars and I did not see if you brought home anything so I am curious if you bought something while at the comic book shop."

"Oh uh no...no I didn't buy anything. There were all just old copies of comics I owned."

"You are acting weird, Lincoln," Lola asked, "what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"She means that she thinks your covering up something," Lori said.

"I'm not."

"Is there a bully at your school? I would totally kick his butt!" Lynn said.

"There is no bully! I just had an average, run-of-the-mill day today. Nothing more, nothing less", Lincoln got a little angry with that response. His feelings of rage quickly disapated as he did not really like to be angry and he realized his siblings were just looking out for him.

"Oh okay," Lynn said. There was a brief silence that filled the room until a few seconds later when the parents asked another sister how their day was.

"So, Luna..." Lynn Sr. started. "I heard that you started a band with your friends. That's pretty exciting."

Luna was faced down in her food, playing with it similar to how Lincoln was, all with a glum expression on her face. It was clear that her mind was elsewhere.

"Eh." She said.

"Do you guys have a gig yet?" Rita asked.

"We're... playin' next week I think." Luna said in an unusually melancholy tone.

"Sweetheart", her father inquired, "is something the matter?"

"Yeah." She said, "but I don't wanna talk about it here."

"Oh... well, we can talk about it after supper, in your room... alone."

"That'd be great, thanks." Luna then started to pull her chair out from the table and grabbed her plate and then walked towards the sink, "I'm not really super hungry, dude. I would like to go up to my room and jam."

"Uh... sure, we understand," Luna then placed her dirty plate in the sink and walked towards the stairs slowly. After she left the room and started traversing the stairs, the sisters quickly gossipped about what was troubling Luna, but Lincoln was not. Although he cared about his sister very much, he knew that some people need time alone before they want to talk and he let his sister have that. 'I'm sure that I will talk to her when she is good and ready', thought Lincoln, 'whenever that is'.

The rest of the supper was routine as usual and after helping Lynn and Lucy clear away the table, he immediately went upstairs because he was excited to talk to Sam again on his phone. After he made it to his room, he soon realized that he would not get very much privacy with his sisters coming and going from his room as they see fit so he had to think of a plan. Then it hit him like lightning, he used a couple of scrunchies and hair elastics that Lola dropped from her previous visit to Lincoln's room. He then put the elastics over the doorknob and tied them in a way so that people could not barge in. He did not have a lock on his door, as no one in the Loud house had those on their doors.

Finally, Lincoln was able to take off his shoes, kick back and talk with Sam. He got to texting eventually coming out with a reply, _"K. Done dinner. Ready 2 talk"_. After a few seconds, he got an answer. _"Great. I'm done dinner too. Crazy!"_ A texting chain then started, with Lincoln going _"O kewl, wut did U have?_ " and Sam saying _"Meat loaf. I 3 ML. So tasty"_. The conversation sprung from there:

" _I had fish. Pretty good though not my favorite meal of the week"_

" _Meal of the week?"_

" _Yeah Dad makes a different meal each day of the week"_

" _Every week?"_

" _Yup."_

" _Man that would be interesting."_

" _Yeah. It was Fish-Fried Friday and tomorrow it will be Succotash Saturday"_

" _Lol, sorry but everytime I hear 'succotash' I think of that toon with the cat"_

" _What?"_

" _Oh it's just this cartoon cat that goes 'Sufferin' succotash' sometimes."_

" _Huh. I never watched it."_

" _Yeah it was on when I was younger."_

" _Funny. I never saw it."_

" _That is somewhat surprising given how popular it is. Dang millennials. Lol."_

" _Hehe. Maybe you could show it to me"_

" _Yeah I have it on DVD. Maybe I could show you someday"_

" _That'd be cool."_

Suddenly, Lincoln heard a knock on his door. He was slightly scared that one of his sisters will find out, especially since most of them are incapable of keeping secrets. Lincoln gulped, hid his phone and unlocked his door and peeked his face out a little bit. It was Lola.

"Oh hey, Lola. What's up?" Lincoln asked with a slight stutter. This was the worst sister that could've possibly answered the door.

"You've been asking really weird, Linky. What's goin' on?" Lola asked with a stern look on her face.

"Nothing." Lincoln did not like trying to his own sisters.

"There's something up... I am not sure what it is, but I'll find out soon enough." Suddenly Lincoln's cell phone released a noise indicating that he received a text message. Lola then slowly leered over to the wall, as if to stare directly at his bed if the wall wasn't there.

"Oh, that's just, uh... Clyde. He's got some tips for the video game we are playing." Lola then leered back at her older brother without break. Lincoln gave an uneasy smile.

"Fine, have your secrets", Lola gasped, "but Lola Loud finds out everything eventually... remember that". She then walked back to her room. Lincoln breathed a sigh of relief once Lola was out of sight, locked up her door as best as he could and went back to his cell phone. As expected, the text message was from Sam.

 _Hey man, are you still there?_

Lincoln wrote his reply back.

 _Yeah, just had sister issues._

 _Lol, yeah I know. I have three brothers._

 _Right._

 _Hey I gotta go, but it's been great talking to you.  
Wanna meet up at Gus' Games & Grub 2morrow?_

 _Oh yeah totes! How's about 11?_

 _See you then._

Lincoln felt happy talking to his friend and that he was going to see her again in the morning. He then started to prepare for bedtime with a big smile on his face, knowing that his dreams would be happy and his slumber would be peaceful.


	3. Chapter 3

After a lengthy night of Lincoln dreaming about wicker baskets of all things, the morning arrived at the Loud House. Saturday is usually a busy day for most of the Louds, as since there was no school, most of them had other things to do. Lynn has her many sports, Leni goes shopping, Lisa has a seminar, and that sort of thing. Lincoln usually hung out with Clyde, but because he was on vacation, he had a pretty wide-open schedule. That is he did, until he made plans to hang with his new friend Sam. Lincoln was excited to meet up with Sam and talk with her.

But first he had to make it past the sisternado outside. While some of the sisters were out, some of them were still in and they would be no doubt inquisitive about what he would be doing, as they knew about the vacationing McBrides. So he had to go into stealth mode like his comic book hero, Ace Savvy. After getting dressed, his next stop was the washroom to comb his hair and brush his teeth. He opened the door very slightly to see if any sisters were in the way. He could see Lucy walking to the stairs but thankfully she did not notice her brother looking out his bedroom door, and her hair was usually over her eyes. Still she could navigate around and never bumped into walls unlike his sister Leni, who has never had problems with her vision. Once Lucy made her way down the stairs, Lincoln slowly opened his door and tiptoed to the washroom. But then suddenly a noise made him stop in his tracks.

"Hold up!" It was his sister Lori, "that is literally gross." She was coming out of her room and talking on her phone to whatever friend about whatever subject. "I know! I do not wish that on my worst enemy. Speaking of which, did you hear about what Todd posted on Swiftypic, you will literally roll on the floor laughing..." she said as she walked from her house to the stairs, all the while not even noticing her brother Lincoln at the west wing of the hallway.

Lincoln did not have any sisters come out to the hallway, meaning he had a clear path to the washroom. Miraculously, he made it to the washroom and was able to brush his teeth and comb his hair in peace. He was starting to be excited but also worried because usually at least one sister would come out and disturb him and ruin his plans. Multiplying his caution tenfold, he slowly tiptoed to the stairs. Like before, the once noisy Loud house seemed desolate since most of the sisters were out or in another room. He could hear the television faintly from another room as he made it down the stairs and he had no idea if one of the sisters would ambush. He reached the bottom of the stairs and tried to reach the door. Lucy was watching Vampires of Melancholia with her bust of the main character, Edwin, on the couch. Lincoln knew that even though it was a rerun, his spooky sister had her "eyes" glued to the program, clutching the bust like a baby with a blanket, even getting a little physical with it, which Lincoln found kinda creepy, but still he had to not make a noise. Even as the door creaked, Lucy's full attention was on the T.V program so much that she did not notice her brother exiting the Loud house.

Silently closing the door behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief and was astounded that he could exit the majority of the property without one of his sisters noticing him. He then walked normally down the stairs of the deck and onto the path of the Loud house property all with his eyes closed because he felt pretty good that he was able to leave the property without-

"Whatcha doin', big brother?"

Oops. He neglected to notice Lana playing in the mud outside. He turned around to see his adorable sister covered in mud, making mud pies and other mud sculptures.

"Uh... well..." Lincoln was a little nervous, but still a bit relieved that it was Lana who noticed him and not some of his other sisters. Quickly he had to think of something, but instead he trusted his younger sister with some information. "Lana, do you think you can keep a secret?"

"I think so," she said after giving it a moment of thought.

"Now what I am telling you, you absolutely can't tell anyone. Don't ask why I can't tell anyone, I just... I just can't. Okay."

Lana was unsure of why but she trusted her older brother enough, so she innocently said, "Alright, I'll try."

"Okay...," Lincoln looked to his left and then to his right to see if anyone was around, "I am meeting a new friend I met the other day at Gus' Games & Grub".

"That's it?" she asked afterwards, she then began to laugh a bit and followed it up with, "Here I thought you were committin' a felony or something. Sure I won't tell."

"Oh, thank Gosh. I especially don't want Lola to find out," he concluded.

"I know right. She's like a vulture."

"Great!" Lincoln then gave two big thumbs up and started to walk away, "see you later, Lana."

"Bye, Linky!" Lincoln smiled because he thought it was cute how his younger sisters called him 'Linky'.

It did not take very long to reach Gus' Games & Grub from Lincoln's house. As his house was usually located in the suburbs, it was easy walking distance to pretty much any of the landmarks in Royal Woods, though the mall and the comic book store were a bit of a ways away and usually required taking the bus or having Lori drive him there. Plus it was a beautiful day that Saturday, so he did not mind the walk, even though he didn't really like the brisk run that he ran last night. It was an average walk for Lincoln and he made it to Gus' Games & Grub in no time flat. He entered and looked around and he noticed that Sam was in the second aisle seat from the entrance. She was sitting away from the door but he recognized her from the back of her head.

"Hey, Sam," he called out. She turned.

"Oh hey, Lincoln," she replied.

"Hey! Wow, and I thought I was getting here early," he said as he walked over to the seat.

"Naw dude, you have to get up pretty early to beat me to Triple-G. I mean, I know that I said eleven in the text, but... you know, I love this place so I couldn't wait."

"Yeah wow. I'm the same way."

"Have a seat." Lincoln then sat on the side opposite of Sam. "Don't worry, man, I already ordered. You like pepperoni, right?"

"Uh yeah."

"Great! Because that means I don't have to eat a whole pizza by myself," Sam laughed, "and don't worry, dude, I'll pay this time."

"Cool, 'cause I'm, uh, kinda broke," He then opened up his wallet to see no dollar bills, a card that says 'Leave My Organs Alone', a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card from Monopoly and a moth flying out of where the paper bills should be. "Hey, listen, Sam, I uh... I didn't mean to be rude earlier paying for you yesterday."

"Wha... why would I be mad?"

"I just thought that you know, women are more than capable of paying in this day and age and I didn't want to offend you."

"Naw man, that's fine. I didn't mind at all. It was mighty sweet of ya, ya know, bein' so nice to a lady, I took it as a compliment."

"Okay cool," Lincoln then relaxed a bit and after a bit of silence he continued, "man pizza for breakfast?"

"Yep."

"Oh wow. That's so cool. I didn't even know that they served pizza for breakfast."

"Well they usually don't, but I pulled some strings. My little way of saying thanks."

"You're welcome," Lincoln was looking at Sam a lot but he tried to not make it seem too creepy like he was being a stalker or anything and he hoped that Sam didn't notice. "So uh what are your hobbies?"

"My hobbies? Well..." Sam started, "I like music, of course. Always have. My Dad plays the guitar and taught me to jam. He was so great. Almost had a pro career before having a family but decided to give it up to have a family. I'd like to be touring on a band one day. Thankfully I started it with Luna and a couple other guys."

"What are you called?"

"Well we went through a lot of names, but I think we are settled on 'Lunatix' right now. Sure it's a little narcissistic but we all liked the sound of it so it kinda stuck. We've been practicing a lot recently and have a big gig coming up next week. It's gonna be so rockin'! I hope that you'll come."

"I probably will. Luna has not stopped talking about it."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah you can't go a single day without her bringing it up. Like you could be talking about turtles and then she's like 'Don't forget about the recite, man! It's gonna rock your pants off!'"

Sam laughed, "Yeah that sounds like Luna."

"Yeah," Lincoln then inquired, "what kind of music do you like?"

"Oh a bitta everything, man. I love rock and roll, but I also listen to a bit of pop and country... and rap."

"You like rap?"

"A bit."

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"Which rappers do you like?"

"I listen to only a bit, but I like Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Jay-Z and of course Biggie Smalls."

Lincoln laughed, even though he did not know who Biggie Smalls was. "That's so wild. Uh... which bands do you like?"

"For rock, I like Green Day, Twenty One Pilots, Linkin Park, and SMOOCH."

"You like SMOOCH?"

"Yeah!"

"Holy crap," Lincoln was getting excited, "I love SMOOCH."

"Wow!" Sam was excited too to find another cool similarity, "I mean Luna finds them a bit juvenile, but man that lead guitarist sure can shred! Also Dirk Kellogg, such a terrific voice." Dirk Kellogg was the lead singer of SMOOCH.

"Yeah, I never thought about that but I agree." Lincoln wanted to keep the conversation going because he loved talking with Sam, "what is your favourite SMOOCH song?"

"Ooh, good question, man," Sam then thought about it for a bit, "I would have to say either 'Live Your Dream' or 'Mary-Alice', both have great lyrics."

"Yeah I like '' myself."

"Hmm, gotta say that's probably one of my least favourites."

"Really?"

"Yeah, keepin' it honest, man. But they have so many good songs and seldom have bad ones so that's not a bad choice."

"Okay. Uh... any other music artists you like?"

"Yeah, I like some Maroon 5, Sam Smith, Elton John, George Michael, a bit of some older stuff from 70's and 80's and some of the stuff from today. Really, there's so much good music everywhere. A day without music is a day wasted."

Lincoln felt at ease talking with Sam. He liked hearing her voice as well as hearing what she likes. He rarely had this much ease and confidence talking to other girls his age, outside of Ronnie Anne.

"Alrighty then, I have a question for you." Sam then said.

"Oh, okay."

"Tell me, man... What's it like living with 10 sisters?"

"Well I think I can describe it best in one word: chaos!"

"Yeah no doubt. Just hangin' with Luna is a bit of a handful, I can't imagine what it's like to live with her."

"It's not too bad, really. I got a lot of sisters doing a lot of different things with different interests sure, and it can be mighty hectic and a little stressful, but I love that chaos, and I love all my sisters and all their quirks, and I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"That's a good attitude to have."

"Yeah. My sisters always have my back. Plus we are super involved in everyone's life. So many adventures, so many stories. You know, it's funny... sometimes I pretend that my life is a television show and pretend to talk to an imaginary camera."

"No kidding?"

"Yeah, I only did it a bit at first, but after a while, it just became a bit of a coping mechanism and it became second nature. I know it sounds super weird and nerdy."

"Naw man, it doesn't. You do you."

"Nice. It'd be cool if my life was actually a T.V show. Maybe a cartoon."

"I'd watch it."

"Sweet."

At that point, the two continued to talk. Lincoln shared some interesting and funny stories from school while Sam shared some cool anecdotes from life in her old city before her family moved to Royal Woods. The more he heard her voice, the happier he felt and the more he realized that he liked hearing her speak. Normally when people ramble on about stuff, he found himself unable to listen and focusing on other things, but not with Sam. He was so focused on her talking, he didn't even notice the waitress bringing in their pizza.

"Ah, finally! Thanks." Sam said to the waitress. Fortune favoured Lincoln again because usually most of the waiters would recognize him, but it was someone that Lincoln did not recognize. He was a little worried, especially after what Lincoln was told to by Sam the previous night.

"Yeah, I hope you guys like it," said the waitress who appeared to be about forty years old.

"Oh we will!" Lincoln said and then they began to dive in as the waitress attended to other affairs. After taking two slices, Lincoln then was reminded of something.

"So, Sam..." he said while half eating his pizza, "why is it that you asked that nobody know about us hanging out?"

"Oh that," she said. "It's just that..." she then got close and lowered her voice almost to a whisper, "I have friends who will think that it's weird that I am chillin' with a dude that is four years younger than me."

"Really?" Lincoln asked. "I don't really see how that is a bad thing but you shouldn't worry about being a little 'weird', I mean I perfectly okay with who I am. People will like you exactly the way you are."

"You're sweet but it's not that," she told him, "You see, they're teenagers. They are... kinda relentless."

"Oh," Lincoln said, "I know how that is. I frequently hear about how some teens have mocked my older sisters in the past, especially Leni."

"Yeah I know, I saw a couple of the times your sisters were bullied. Luna was once teased way harsh, and I had to step in and defend her. Needless to say, that dork will not be trying any of that stuff again."

"That's so cool." Lincoln then tried to not say anything while he was eating because he knew it was rude to eat with his mouth full.

"Thanks! However..." Sam mentioned as she took a bite of a slice of pizza, "on the rare event that we do run into some more 'judgmental' among them, think you can pretend that we don't know each other?"

"Uh... yes?" Lincoln was still a little confused on Sam's request, but still played along with it because he figured that she knew best because she was older.

"Sweet. You'll know from this double wink," Sam then demonstrated by blinking her right eye twice, "hope you're a good actor."

"Me too." It did not take long for the two friends to eat the pizza. Sam did not eat as much as Lincoln as she already had a breakfast prior to coming to "Triple-G". Lincoln on the other hand was ravenous and did not have an opportunity to eat pizza first thing in the morning with a pretty girl, and he didn't let this opportunity pass him by.

After a while, both their subsequent bellies were full. There were a few slices left but they did not want to eat either one and had mutually decided to take them home with them. They just sat there content as cows.

"That was so great. Good idea, Sam." Lincoln said with a satisfing grin.

"Thanks, bud." she replied.

"I would like to get a couple of drinks and maybe play a few games, you up for that?"

"Yeah, but first I wanna sit here a bit and let the food digest, man. Gosh, I might've ate too much."

"Okay. Just wanted to say thanks for hanging out with me."

"My pleasure, dude." Lincoln then walked over to the fountain drinks and tried to have a bit of cola, but just as he was about to do it, he noticed that in the corner, the owner had put up a new arcade game, _Sugar Rush_ , and he immediately made a beeline over to the game to try it out as nobody was there (he was possibly the first person that day to try it out). Sam watched the whole thing and had a bit of a giggle as she thought it was cute.

The bell of the front door rang, indicating that someone had entered the building. Two people in fact. One was a tall brunette gentlemen and another brunette young lady with bangs covering her eyes (how she was able to find her away around nobody knows). These were Sam's bandmates, George and Ruth. Sam heard the bell and turned her head to see who had entered and was a bit surprised to see them enter, especially Ruth who had a slight dislike for video games.

"Oh," Sam said with a slight state of shock in her voice, while at the same time getting up to talk to them, "George, Ruth, it's a surprise to see you two here."

"I wish I could say the same," Ruth said with a hint of snark.

"We were looking for you," George mentioned.

"Me? Why?" Sam wondered.

"Well we haven't gotten word from Luna in a while and we were wondering if she was alright."

"You two have been really chummy recently and we were wondering if you had had contact with her?"

Sam had to tell a little white lie because she did not want to reveal why Luna was M.I.A. to her bandmates. "Right... yeah, I was in contact on Facebook. She told me that she was in a real funk lately and that she needed some time to herself. She is under a hecka lot of stress from homework and junk, you know how that is." Sam did not like lying.

"Oh?" George said, "Okay that's good. We were a little worried." He then noticed her table which had a few slices of the pizza left. "Is that your table?"

"Uh, yeah."

"And did you have pizza... for breakfast?"

"Uh... yes."

"Dude... that is so... hardcore!" George said with excitement.

"Unusual, but tasty." Ruth added.

"Yeah, well... I was hungry and I thought, 'Man I could sure use a pizza' and I got one."

"That's right! You're an independent woman, you can get what you want!"

"Haha, yeah."

"May I have a slice?" George asked.

"Uh... sure?" Sam was a little surprised by the request but allowed him to have a slice. George walked to the table and took the piece to the furthest right from where Sam was sitting. He then walked back beside Ruth and proceeded to eat the slice.

"Anyways where was I?" George said with his mouth full, losing his train of thought.

"Luna's absence, man." Ruth mentioned.

"Oh yeah," he continued, take slight breaks in speech to consume the pizzsa, "Anyways, we need to find out if Luna is still in or not. Your gig is only a week away and we need to cram in some rehearsing if we are expectin' this gig to be our big break."

"Okay, I will try to get in contact with her. Hopefully she's feelin' okay today."

"Good, because we don't even have a song yet." Ruth said.

"I thought we were doing the original I wrote ya?" Sam asked.

"We were, but you know Ruth, she was just not feelin' it."

"It's not my fault that I can't figure out the drum lick. You try playing the drums, bruh." Ruth then directed her attention towards Sam, "this is why we need Luna, man. She is only one of us besides me that has drum experience."

"I know." A thought was continually racing through Sam's mind: the phrase 'what have I done?'

Unbeknownst to her, Lincoln had finished up his game and was filling up two jumbo sodas, one for him and one for Sam. Unfortunately he had bitten off a bit more than he could chew.

"This whole Luna situation is way bogus, a huge inconvience, man." George then said, but at that moment, Lincoln, not knowing where he was going, bumped into Sam, spilling the soda on the bottom part of her pants.

"Oh man," Lincoln said trying to clean up, "I am so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking..." he continued to apologize at a quick talking rate. In the meantime, Sam noticed, and directed her attention towards Lincoln.

"It's alright, dude," she said in a reassuring tone of voice, helping him clean up by grabbing the napkins from her table to clean up. The bottom half of her pants were soaked from soda stains, but she was not too upset about it, "we all do it from time to time, you probably were thinking of... something else". She then gave the double wink to Lincoln. "Here, kid." Sam grabbed her purse and pulled out a $5 bill, "go and refill your drinks, on me."

"Gosh..." Lincoln said, "thanks, random girl whom I don't know." Lincoln was not a good actor. He then went to the till, paid for two medium cups, went to the drink dispenser, filled up the same brand of soda for both cups and then proceeded to the door. "Well..." he continued, pretending to act casual, "I guess I better get out of here, as I am just an 11-year-old boy, trying to get himself a drink of his favourite soda, and have nothing to do with anyone in here."

"Wait!" George then said, pulling his hand out, giving a stop gesture. He then turned his head and made eye contact with Lincoln, "if you came by yourself, why do you have two drinks?"

"Oh... uh..." Lincoln was put on the spot again. After a few seconds, he thought of something, "because it's warm out today and I need to quench my thirst so bad that I bought a second drink to compensate." He was not sure if the man would buy his story.

George then turned his head towards Ruth.

"That's genius." Lincoln did not expect George to say that very thing, "I mean that is freaking genius. I love the way kids think."

"I would caution his sugar intake," Ruth replied, "but congratulate his clever thinking."

George then turned towards Lincoln laughing, "you alright, kid. I like the way you think."

Lincoln smiled and exited the building without another word. For added measure, he walked over to the nearby curb and hid behind a bush, watching and waiting for the two people who were with Sam to leave before entering "Triple-G" again.

"Cute kid." George said.

"Yeah I like him." Ruth replied.

"Anyways, Sam, you need to get in contact with Lunes, okay? Come hell or high water. Your future depends on it!"

"I understand." she said, "you can count on me, George."

"Good. Let's go." he said to Ruth as they were leaving.

Lincoln watched from afar as the two walked away in the completely opposite direction before making a left turn at an adjacent street. It was then that Lincoln came back in, his drinks still in tow.

"Holy crap, man!" Sam said excitedly. "That was super close."

"I'll say." Lincoln said as the two had a good laugh. "Here's your drink by the way."

"Thanks." Sam received her drink as she looked upon the kid with leaves all over his body. She grinned over the cute display.

"Hey listen," she continued as she picked up the remaining slices, "I'm gonna go pay and ask for a doggie bag. And then I will be going home to... take care of some business and change my pants. How's about at eleven you meet me at Savino Park, I wanna show you something special."

"That is kinda far," Lincoln mentioned, "I'm gonna have to check the bus schedule, but I think I can manage that."

"Great!" Sam then paid for her meal and put the remaining pizza slices in a box to take to her place. She then walked up to Lincoln, "thanks for a wonderful breakfast".

"You're welcome," Lincoln said. He then watched as she left the building. Lincoln was still in love and still continued to think about her a lot, but did not feel ready to talk to her about it yet. He then decided that since it was only 9:30, he would play a little bit more video games and then check the bus schedule on his phone.


	4. Chapter 4

After Lincoln dominated at the various arcade beat-em-ups, shooters, and puzzlers that Gus' Games & Grub had, the time flew by and it became relatively close to eleven o'clock. He was so invested in his gaming and his hot streak at Sugar Rush, he soon looked at his phone and say that the time was 10:45 a.m. He had lost track of time and immediately checked to see if the bus that was able to take him to Savino Park was nearby. He looked outside and saw that it was making its rounds, and he ran out of the restaurant, leaving his in-progress game (though unbeknownst to him, another kid picked up where Lincoln left off, and did reasonably well). He zoomed outside with an awkward, yet brisk stride, managing to make the bus before it departed from the nearest bus stop, locating at the next block away from "Triple-G".

Lincoln paid the driver with exact change from the remainder of money he had left over from the gaming he did, and sat in a seat in the middle of the bus, next to a middle-aged balding man on his iPhone and an older lady with perhaps deteriorating eyesight. He wasn't quite accustomed to bus riding etiquette as most of the people who were on this particular bus seemed to be misfits and outcasts, older people, and people who likely do not have an actual license, none of whom Lincoln knew. A person of a younger generation accompanying the other passengers did draw some attention to him, with some of the older crowd being somewhat surprised. The ride to the park was bumpy to say the least. Him being spoiled by his father's particularly strong driving skills and the fact that the street he happened to be travelling on was full of potholes made this ride particularly unpleasant. The seat he was on was very uncomfortable, the floor had various bits of garbage and the stench reeked of B.O., and yet despite all this, Lincoln was intruiged with the surprise that Sam had promised hours earlier. 'What could it be' was a thought that popped in his head continually throughout the day. I mean, he did not know Sam particularly well nor particularly long, but still the fact that she wanted to show him something had him geniunely curious.

The bus took a little over 16 minutes to reach the destination. The park was located somewhat near the outer edge of the town and from the restaurant was actually only a ten minute commute if Lincoln were to get a rid from Vanzilla or some other vehicle, but in this case with the potholes and the bus having to make continual stops, it look slightly longer, though thankfully, nobody wanted to board the bus, but substantially more people wanted to depart. Eventually, Lincoln's stop approached and he got off of the vehicle. He stood nearby the entrance to the park and watched as the bus picked up a few tourists and ventured back into the city.

Savino Park was a national park and nature trail located outside Royal Woods and was named after the founder of Royal Woods. Lincoln did not really remember ever going to this park despite its relative closeness to the town. Maybe when he was younger, as he vaguely remembered faded memories of a couple of family outings when he was like five, but that's about it. He certainly could place the name of the town as it was a popular enough place for people to go to in general, and he did hear through passing conversations about some of his schoolmates making frequent visits, but other than that, he did not remember much about the park. However, he was excited to see what was at this location and what Sam was going to show him.

And speaking of Sam, she arrived about four minutes later, being picked up by an Uber. She stepped out and Lincoln immediately noticed that she changed her pants from the old denim jeans to the more stylish purple velvet pants, which was very eye-catching and kept in pristine condition despite her obvious torn denim blue jeans. She paid the driver and like the bus that came before headed back to the city. Sam looked around a bit, but could instantly see Lincoln's white hair, especially since he was the only preteen she ever met with that colour hair.

"Hey Sam," Lincoln said as he waved at Sam.

"Hey man!" Sam replied, walking towards him, "good to see that you took me up on my offer."

"Yeah, I totally wouldn't want to miss your surprise," Lincoln wasn't exactly subtle with him looking at the beautiful Sam. He especially liked one particular plot of her blonde hair that she dyed blue. Lincoln didn't know it at the time, but he liked girls who had little bits of their hair dyed a different colour to their natural hair colour.

"I love your pants," Lincoln complimented.

"Yeah," Sam said with a slight giggle. "These are my special pants. Bought them online for a real hefty price, but man has it ever been worth it."

"I think you look rather nice in them."

"Tell me something I don't know," she smiled jokingly.

Sam came equipped with a purple backpack. Lincoln could not tell what was in said backpack, but he could see the neck of a guitar sticking out the side of one compartment. He was excited over the prospect of having a serenade from Sam possibly. He had heard a lot of Luna's playing, but was unsure how well Sam played, though him hearing that she played acoustic guitar and keyboard in Luna's band had him optimistic that she would probably play well.

"So I thought I would show you something real wicked in this park. You up for it?" she inquired.

"Oh yeah. Totally." Lincoln was on pins and needles wondering what she was going to show him.

"Alrighty then." She and Lincoln walked into the park. Lincoln hadn't gone to a lot of nature reserves or parks in his lifetime, but he enjoyed it from the little bit that he did see. Even though Lincoln wasn't super into nature, he still could appreciate the beauty of the natural world, especially the well-maintained flora of the park.

Sam took a deep breath in and out. "A girl can breathe here. No pollution, no noise, no electronic devices. Just the gorgeous sights that God gave us." Lincoln of course did have his phone on him, but he immediately turned it off after what Sam said. He didn't want it to disrupt the visit. "C'mon, dude, lemme show you around."

Sam lead Lincoln over to a path on the east side of the park. A nature trail where people can take it the sights. There were loads of tourists around this area, maybe of whom having cameras or their phones to take pictures. Lincoln wasn't a huge fan of exercise. Gym class was not exactly his favourite subject though he tolerated it, and he did tire easily when playing sports with Lynn, usually resulting in his sister winning the majority of the times they played. He didn't mind walking though.

The path that they were on seemed to go on for a while. After about five minutes of walking, they went deeper and deeper into the forest. Lincoln was almost sure that he had he and Sam had walked to the very ends of the earth, though he was probably being slightly melodramatic. Though he was somewhat tired and he was sweating a bit from the warm midday sun, he still soldiered on. He also was unsure what Sam would be wanting to show him this far into the woods, especially since ever step seemed to go further and further away from civilization. Again, Lincoln was being somewhat melodramatic.

Finally after about seven minutes of walking, Sam mysteriously stopped. This caught Lincoln by surprised as he bumped into her backpack. Thankfully, it was well-cushioned from whatever the heck Sam put in it, so she hardly felt it. Lincoln looked inquisitively at her as she darted her eyes back and forth along the path. There was no one else around in the immediate vacinity.

"Uh, Sam..." Lincoln stated.

Sam then went over to the corner of the turn in the path. "Over here, dude," she gestured to the white-haired boy. Lincoln walked over confused.

"What's going on?" He just had to ask.

"Alright, now Lincoln. This may sound a little weird, but I want you to trust me on this and do exactly as I do. Gotcha?"

Lincoln just nodded after an unsure glare. Sam turned around towards the side of the path where the thick shrubbery manifested itself. After cracking her knuckles, she then proceeded to weasel her way through the prickly bushes, straying off the beaten, established path. Lincoln just looked on in amazement and surprise wondering why she would do it, but she did assure him to do as she said. After walking out ahead a few feet, Lincoln walked through the bush as well. The stray branches, thistly thorns and sticky burrs latched onto his clothing, his hair and his shoes. It hurt a little, here and there, however seeing Sam ahead of him not only being unfazed by a similar pelting, but thriving and travelling with a stronger stride than her walking speed caused Lincoln to carry on.

After a few hundred meters, Lincoln basically covered in thorns and thistles on his body and hair, however the path was more evened out and started to become more of a path, however one that was not as maintained as the paths that the park intended for the patrons to go on.

"Hoo, sorry about that, Lincoln." Sam said, "It's just that I didn't want this secret path to be visible to the park managers so we had to go through a little slice of hell getting here." Sam laughed.

"Wait..." Lincoln pondered, "you mean that you made this path?"

"Yeah I guess I did," she began, maintaining her prior walking speed, "you see, when my family first moved here, I needed to get away from... the stress of my personal life, you know... so I started walking these trails to get my mind off things. Then one day, I wasn't watching where I was going and started to walk into the gorse bush. I could've just course-corrected, but for some strange reason I kept going in a straight line. Eventually, I marked the path on the trees," pointing a red line on an adjacent tree trunk, "and cut out a path once I was fair enough along out of the thorns to not let the people running the park know about it."

"Wow! So where exactly are we heading to?" Lincoln wondered, even though it probably wasn't that far into the brush that they ventured in.

"You'll see," Sam said reassuringly. Lincoln couldn't help but notice that Sam's pants were relatively free of noticeable burrs and thorns. It was clear that Sam had made frequent visits to wherever it is that they were going and that she had a method for evading the prickles, but he still was a little sad to see a couple of them here and there on her incredibly nice pants, especially after hearing she paid a lot for them.

After a few seconds, Sam stopped and crouched down towards Lincoln's level, pointing out to a canopy of branches that marked the entrance to Sam's mystery location.

"We're here," she said. She walked forward and pushed the nearby branches out of the way. Lincoln walked through the entrance with Sam following closely behind. Finally, Sam's secret was revealed.

Lincoln walked through the entrance and saw a little cliffside plateau, a small oasis surrounded by a sea of trees. On one side was a drop that led down to a mighty river, with another tree-populated mountain on the other side. The flora all around the area was green and looked like it wasn't tampered with by human methods. No pesticides or fumigation needed. There was also a stony picnic table, slightly overgrown due to lack of maintenance. Lincoln was indeed surprised by this sight.

"Oh... my... Gosh," was all that Lincoln could utter.

"I know right," Sam replied, "I stumbled upon this little place by accident. You see, I would frequent this park back when my family first moved here. It was a good way to unwind and... forget." Sam took a brief pause. Lincoln could tell something was troubled by her expression, but a few seconds later, she continued, "One time, I was walking along these trails, trying to get away from any and all stressful situations, but the worrying still manifested and one time, I wasn't watching were I was going and I ended up in the bushes. Now, normally when that would happen I would just carry on on the path, but for some reason, I continued to venture into parts unknown. Almost as if God... was guiding me. It seemed unorthodox and weird, but I maintained a straight line, so as I could make it back to the path if I ever felt like it. Sure enough, not long after making it through all those pricklies, I found this little area. Not sure where this is, but my best guess was that this was going to be a place where the guests of the park could rest and take pictures and have picnics and stuff but the park staff just forgot about it for some reason. But I found it by accident. And as if by magic, when I was here, all my troubles, my worries... my cares... they all seemed to have lifted off of me." Sam walked a few steps forward, on to the middle of the plateau; around 30 some-odd feet from the cliff's edge. "I just was able to relax... chill out... cool it," she then fell down slowly to the ground and took her backpack off, placing it beside her. "Just feel the grass on my skin, the wind in my hair, the air in my lungs... it helped me out so much during my worst of days. I never showed a single person this place... not even Luna. But I thought I would share it with you. I know I haven't known you for very long, but even so, it still feels like I've... known you for years. I know it sounds super corny and junk, but... there's something about you, Lincoln Loud, that I respect so much."

"Oh wow," Lincoln had to take in everything that she said, "Thank you so much... for showing me this place, and for those kind words."

"My pleasure, dude."

Lincoln walked closer to Sam, and just as he got to where he was, Sam stopped him, and looked at his body all covered in burrs, thorns, slight branches and various other forest goodies.

"It's all over you, man," Sam giggled. "Lemme give you a hand." Sam helped to get the majority of the prickles off of Lincoln's clothes and hair. Lincoln did very much like Sam's smooth hands touching his hair.

Afterwards, Lincoln walked a little bit ahead of Sam and likewise sat down, feeling the soft grass on himself and feeling the light wind that wasn't chilling, but like a ceiling fan on its lightest setting. The weather was also perfect. Not blisteringly hot, but not unbearably cold either.

"Ooh... that grass is nice," he complimented.

"Yeah it is," Sam said, grabbing for the neck of her guitar that was in her backpack, "and sometimes... I like to have some tunes while I am here."

Lincoln was definitely excited. He had never heard Sam playing the guitar. He had heard Luna playing the guitar a lot as that was one of her favourite pastimes and she frequently did solo practice in her room. He did wonder if Sam was a good guitar player and singer, but his assurance was met once he remembered that she was a part of Luna's band. Lincoln laid down on the grass with his eyes closed, and like the comical meerkat and warthog in that animated film he saw a lot growing up, he adopted a "no worries" mindset and just forgot about his troubles.

Sam softly strummed the strings of her guitar. The melodic playing filled the area. That, along the animal noises, the rustling wind, and the ever-so-slight noise of the river made for a wonderful cocktail of ecstasy for the ears, which had elevated once Sam softly sung a melody:

" _We'll do it all_

 _everything on our own_

 _We don't need_

 _anything or anyone_

 _If I lay here_

 _If I just lay here_

 _Would you lay with me_

 _And just forget the world?_

 _I don't quite know_

 _how to say how I feel_

 _those three words_

 _are said too much_

 _They're not enough_

 _If I lay here_

 _If I just lay here_

 _Would you lay with me_

 _And just forget the world?_

 _Forget what we're told_

 _Before we get too old_

 _Show me a garden_

 _that's bursting into life_

 _Let's waste time_

 _chasing cars_

 _around our heads_

 _I need your grace_

 _to remind me_

 _to find my own_

 _If I lay here_

 _If I just lay here_

 _Would you lay with me_

 _And just forget the world?_

 _Forget what we're told_

 _Before we get too old_

 _Show me a garden_

 _that's bursting into life_

 _All that I am_

 _All that I ever was_

 _Is here in your perfect eyes_

 _They're all I can see_

 _I don't know where_

 _Confused about how as well_

 _Just know that these things_

 _will never change for us at all_

 _If I lay here_

 _If I just lay here_

 _Would you lay with me_

 _And just forget the world?_

Lincoln was unfamiliar with the song that Sam sung, but he liked it almost instantly.

Sam continued to strum some chords on her guitar without singing, though she did sing that same song a second time first. She would oftentimes to what she called "guitar improv" where she would just make up notes on the spot and try to make her own melodies. She was good at making up music, which helped out when the band writes original songs.

Lincoln did not sleep while he was at the place, which the two had decided to name "Loud-Sharp Peak", but he did experience a deep, pleasant rest. He didn't think his life was very stressful or exhaustive, but he still appreciated the brief time he had were the anxieties of his life would dissipate.

Time passed and Lincoln and Sam were almost asleep on their little oasis. Until that is that Lincoln felt a buzz coming from his back pocket. It was his cell phone, and it was enough to wake him up. The buzz was a text that he received which read, "Lincoln, where r u? Mom and Dad are literally worried about you!" It was from Lori, and he looked at the time and it was 12:15 p.m., and he also noticed that his stomach was rumbling. Yep, it was about time for lunch.

Lincoln got up and walked over to Sam, trying his best to wake her up without being too rowdy.

"Sam... hey Sam..." He said as he gently shook her shoulders. Because like Lincoln, she wasn't fully asleep, she woke up easily, but still felt the need to wipe her eyes and yawn.

"What's up?" she asked.

"It's 12:15. I don't know about you, but my family wants me home for lunch."

Sam looked at her phone too. "Hmm, good call, man. I think I should be getting home too. I need to grab a quick bite and then meet up with George and Ruth and do a major practicing sesh. Maybe I'll try and talk Lunes into coming too." She quickly gathered up her things and proceeded to walk with Lincoln back towards the entrance of their oasis, closing up the branches too preserve their secret.

"Hey thanks again for showing me that," Lincoln mentioned, "I really liked that surprise."

"You're welcome, Linc." She said, giving him a soft noogie, "you just gotta promise to not show this place to anyone else. Got that?"

"Oh, absolutely." Lincoln was usually good at keeping secrets anyway.

They walked back to the path and tried to evade the prickles one last time, and journeyed down the path back to the entrance of Savino Park. They had to wait for the bus again, but thankfully, the bus wasn't far behind. All the while, they had some cute chitchat about nothing in particular.

After the bus dropped the two off at their respective locations, they both carried on with their normal, mundane, everyday lives. With Sam happy that she could finally share her secret, Lincoln happy that the secret was worth the wait, and both happy to spend some time with a lifelong friend.


End file.
